the way station
by Spacedoutwrites
Summary: Tony meets Morgan at the way station after he snaps. (Basically I thought the deleted scene was trash so I rewrote it with better dialogue because... yikes)
1. the way station

Tony's breathing was ragged and shallow, his ears were ringing, his vision dimming.

"You can rest now," was the last thing he heard, Pepper's soft voice lulling him into dark nothingness.

But it wasn't nothingness.

Next thing he knew, Tony was standing upright again.

Everything felt wrong. The mind-numbing pain that had been pulsing through his entire body was gone, and in its place… nothing. He felt nothing. Even as he moved his hand to look at it, it felt as though he was looking at someone else's hand, it felt completely detached from him. He couldn't even feel the pressure of gravity holding him down. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought he was floating. His hand looked fine, nothing like the burned up mess he knew it had been under the suit. Speaking of the suit, that was gone too. He was back in his normal clothes, the particle unit back in its place on his chest.

Tony looked around him trying to figure out where he was. The sky was a beautiful, bright, orange haze. The ground beneath him looked wet, but when he moved his feet, there was no ripple of water. He knew he had to be dead. There was no other explanation, but this wasn't exactly what Tony had been expecting. He was no expert on the afterlife, if there was one, but this didn't seem like it was it.

He had a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach, like he'd forgotten something important. It reminded him of the feeling he got when he was forced to leave a project unfinished in his workshop. Something was incomplete, but he didn't know what it was. Had he failed? Had Thanos succeeded after all? Was this some kind of trick Thanos was playing on him with the stones?

"Hey," a voice behind him said.

Tony started and slowly turned around. Standing behind him was a girl, probably around Peter's age, maybe a little older. There was something familiar about her, so familiar that Tony felt as though he knew her as well as he knew himself, but he had no idea why. He stared harder, as if that would help him figure out who the girl was. He tried to say something to her, but it came out as incoherent spluttering. Finally, words tumbled out of his mouth, "Do I know you?"

The girl smiled, even laughed a little, "you could say that," she said.

Tony kept staring at her, and suddenly he knew who it was. His jaw went slack with the realization. "Morgan?" he asked. But it wasn't really a question, he knew without a doubt that it was his little girl.

Without another word, the two rushed together in a tight embrace. They both squeezed and held on as if they would never let go. Tony almost hoped they wouldn't.

"I've missed you so much," Morgan whispered into his shoulder.

Tony pulled back to study her, holding her at arm's length. Looking into her eyes felt like looking into a mirror, but at a younger, brighter, better version of himself. "You're so beautiful," he said softly. He pulled her back into his arms.

When they separated again, after who knew how long, Tony asked the question that was burning in the back of his mind. "Did it work?"

Morgan smiled at him again, "I'm here aren't I? You saved us. You saved everyone."

Tony sighed with relief. The weight of the universe slowly lifting off of his shoulders. He looked at Morgan again. "I'm so sorry I had to leave you," he said, not even trying to hide the tears that were rolling down his cheeks. "It was too soon. I wanted to be there for you. The way my dad wasn't there for me."

She put a comforting hand on his arm. "It's okay," she said. "I forgive you. Without you none of us would still be here. The universe is grateful. They haven't forgotten about you, I don't think they ever will."

Tony shook his head, "I don't know if I care about the universe," he said. "Not when I look at you." He wiped his hand across his face. "I wanted to see you grow up, Morgan. I wanted to teach you how to ride a bike and do math problems. I wanted to take you in the lab, show you how things work, let you tinker. I wanted to teach you how to drive and get you your first car. I wanted to send you to college and cry with your mom about how grown up you were. And I missed it. All of it. I know I wouldn't hesitate to do what I did again, but I still sort of feel like I regret it... Is that wrong?"

"No, Dad." Morgan's voice was a little shaky, but she stayed strong. "Of course I wanted you to be there for all of those things. I missed you so much, but I always knew you were still there. Mom told me how proud you would be when I won the science fair in eighth grade. Happy taught me how to drive and told me stories of all the times you got pulled over-"

They both laughed a little.

"Rhodey sent me off to college and showed me pictures of you two when you were in college. Peter was there when I just missed my dad, because he missed you too and knew how I felt. You touched so many people, Dad. Even when I miss you I don't have to go a day without you."

Tony pressed his lips together in a sad smile, he was still crying. "You're so strong, Morguna, I'm so, so proud of you."

At that, Tony felt a release. That gnawing, unfinished feeling from earlier was gone. He felt completely free.

"It's time to go," Morgan said quietly.

He quickly pulled her into one last tight embrace.

"I love you, Dad," she said.

He pressed a gentle kiss into her cheek, "I love you three-thousand."

And with that, he faded away.


	2. epilogue

**epilogue**

Morgan started awake. She was lying in bed in her dorm room. It was still dark outside, clearly the middle of the night.

She laid there, thinking. The dream she had just had was so vivid. So vivid. Like, she was really starting to wonder if it was a dream. She had seen her dad. For the first time in fifteen years. He had looked exactly as she remembered him.

She stared at the ceiling, trying to decide if she could figure this out in the morning. She tried closing her eyes momentarily, but she quickly realized that there was no going back to sleep now.

Morgan crept out of bed, careful no to disturb her sleeping roommate. She grabbed her phone and went out into the hallway. As she sat on the floor, leaning against the wall next to her door, she opened her phone's contacts. Who could she call? She knew who she should call, but she didn't want to bother him in the middle of the night. After hesitating for another minute, she finally gave in and called Peter.

After a few rings, he picked up.

"Hello," his voice was rough, she had definitely woken him up. "Morgan, is everything okay? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," she reassured him. "I just… this sounds kind of dumb, but I had this dream about dad, but… I don't know it just felt too real to be a dream… I can't explain it, it was so weird."

Peter was silent, and for a moment, Morgan was afraid he had fallen back asleep. "I'll be over in a few," he said. "Meet me on the roof?"

Morgan couldn't help but smile, "yeah I'll be there, thanks Pete."

She slipped back into her room and threw on a sweatshirt. She hurried up the stairs, and through the utility door out onto the roof. She remembered to prop the door open on her way out, so she wouldn't get locked out here like last time.

She met Peter up here pretty often. He was the one she always called when she didn't know what to do, and he lived nearby so it wasn't too much of a hassle (of course that definitely had nothing to do with why she picked NYU).

Peter was her big brother. Had been since they lost her dad. She had always been a little jealous of him because he actually got to experience what it was like having her dad around when he was in high school, but she could never hold it against him. Besides, he passed on everything he knew. When she got a bad grade on her Spanish quiz, Peter told her exactly what her dad had told him when the same thing happened to him. "Morgan, sometimes you're going to fail, and that's okay. Work hard and study what you did wrong, and next time, you'll show them that you knew it all along."

In the distance, she saw a familiar shadow swinging from building to building.

Peter landed on the roof and pulled his Spider-Man mask off, revealing his unbrushed bedhead. "Hey, Morg," he said, pulling her in for a quick hug with his free hand.

"Thanks for coming," she replied.

He shrugged, "Anytime. So what was this dream you had?"

They sat on the edge of the roof, feet dangling over the edge as Morgan recounted everything she could remember. Her dad asking if he had succeeded, his shock at seeing her as an adult. His regret in having to leave so soon.

"I told him he saved the universe, but he said… 'I don't know if I care about the universe when I look at you.'" Morgan was trying not to cry. There was no reason to be this emotional, it was just a dream… right?

Peter saw the confusion in her eyes and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Do you think it was real, Morgan?"

Morgan hesitated, "I… it was just a dream, but deep down… yeah I do. I think it was real. I think that was really my dad talking to me."

Peter nodded.

They sat in silence, both trying to figure out how that was possible, but ultimately coming to the conclusion that they would probably never know, and that was okay. It was a gift. Just like this time sitting out on the roof was a gift. They both treasured their time together, because they understood exactly how precious every second could be.


End file.
